Don't Take the Girl
by nannygirl
Summary: Steven Hyde never wanted anyone to take this girl. Very loosely based off the song by Tim McGraw.


_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing! Not the show nor the song, I do own the CD the on is on but that technically belongs to my dad._

_**Author's Note: **__Hello everyone! Here's a little story I came up while listening to the song the other day. I'm still working on "Learning to Fly" so no worries there, just thought I'd drop off this little surprise, hope you like it! The song is by the great Tim McGraw. Oo and you may wanna have at least one tissue close by, my beta (who I must thank once again, Thanks so much!) and I came close to tears while reading/writing. Enjoy!_

* * *

**Don't Take the Girl**

It was the summer of 1968. Eric Forman, and his two friends Steven Hyde and Michael Kelso were sitting on the tailgate of his family's brand new Vista Cruiser. The three boys sat with large grins on their faces, caps on their heads, and fishing poles in their hands.

They were eagerly waiting for Eric's parents to come outside. Red had decided to put some miles on the new car by taking the kids to the lake for some fishing. Actually, his original idea was to go by himself; it was his wife who made the change of plans and added the kids along with herself. Before he could argue, he had three running boys with fishing poles, ready to leave. Their daughter Laurie refused to go, saying she already lived with a worm, and she wasn't gonna touch him either.

"This is gonna be so cool!" Young Kelso exclaimed.

"Yeah, Forman. New car, a fishing trip, and free food," a little Hyde with aviator sunglasses began. "This 'friends' thing could be worth it after all."

"Yeah!" Little Eric said happily, but his tone soon changed to a worried one. "Hey Hyde, do we really have to stick a hook through a worm?"

"Yeah."

"Why, you scared?" a new voice asked.

The three young boys looked over to see the little red-haired girl from next-door, standing with her own cap and fishing pole. Kitty had invited her as well.

"No!" Eric quickly said.

"Hey, Donna." Hyde and Kelso greeted. They were used to having Donna around them. She was the only girl they talked to because…well, she wasn't like the other girls. She was like one of the guys.

"Here Donna, you can sit here," Eric offered as he hopped of his seat.

"Thanks Eric, you string bean," Donna said before hopping on to the car.

"Okay, everyone's here. Let's go," Red, with a head full of hair, said as he walked out to the driveway.

"Oh no, not yet Red!" Kitty said as she scampered over to her husband, her styled hair slightly bobbing up and down.

"What are you talking about? Laurie's not coming," Red reminded her as he grabbed the ice chest from her hands and turned to put it in the car.

"I know, that's why I invited…"

"Hi, Mrs. Forman!" a tiny child's voice greeted.

Red slowly looked at his wife who greeted him with a smile.

"Well hello there, Jackie," Kitty said with a smile to the tiny brunette who stood with her own _new_ pink fishing pole and matching hat. "Kids, you know Jackie, the Burkhart's daughter. She goes to your school."

"Kitty, this is a Vista Cruiser, not a school bus," Red firmly said.

"Red…" Kitty warned as she gestured to inside the house. Red released a deep, frustrated sigh and entered the kitchen with Kitty close behind.

"Hi, Jackie," Donna greeted. "I'm glad you're coming with us. We needed another girl, or else it would have been four boys and only two girls."

"Me too," Eric said only agreeing because Donna said it.

"Girls aren't supposed to go fishing. It's stinky," the raven haired little girl informed.

"Then why are you coming?" Hyde questioned.

"Because, I'm a Burkhart. And we can do whatever we want or don't want to do," Jackie explained as she placed her hands on her small hips.

"Whatever," Hyde said with no trace of care in his voice.

"You're pretty," Kelso said with a large grin and dopey, wide eyes.

Jackie smiled as Eric and Donna giggled and Hyde rolled his eyes.

"Alright kid, you can come," Red said in a not so welcoming tone as he and Kitty walked back out to the driveway. "But we're already behind schedule so let's get in the car."

"I call window!" Eric exclaimed.

"No, I wanna sit next to the window!" Donna protested.

"Oh, okay," Eric said before letting Donna get into the car first and then climbing in himself.

Red shook his head as he closed the back of the car while Kitty smiled beside him.

"Come on Jackie, you can sit next to me." Kelso said with his large grin still in place.

"Okay." Jackie smiled sweetly at Kelso and then turned to Hyde. "Here." she said handing him the fishing pole and then following Kelso into the car.

"Oh here Steven, let me get that," Kitty said taking the pole from the little boy's hands and handing it to Red, so he could put it in the back.

"Does she have to go?" Steven asked the two adults.

"Apparently so," Red mumbled as he tried to fit Jackie's pole in with the rest.

"But we can't take her," Steven said as if the reason was obvious.

"And why not?" Kitty asked curiously.

"Because she's a girl."

"Well, I'm a girl," she pointed out.

"No you're not. You're a mom," Hyde replied, taking off his glasses.

"What about Donna?" Kitty questioned.

"She's not a girl either," Hyde simply told Mrs. Forman before turning to her husband. "Can't we take someone else? Like Casey or Donna's dad?"

"No!" Red quickly said before his wife could ponder over the idea.

"Mr. Forman, you can take anyone boy you want, just don't take the girl," Hyde tried again.

"Sorry son, it's already been done. Now get in the car," he ordered.

Hyde sighed. "Fine." He put on his sunglasses back on and hopped into the car.

Kitty giggled and Red frowned.

"What?" he asked, slightly curious.

"Something tells me, one day he'll change his mind," Kitty said with a smile. "You know how little boys are, trying to stay as far away from girls as much as possible."

"Yeah," Red agreed with a smirk. "Then they grow up and they can't keep their hands off of them," he said before smacking his wife's bottom, causing her to squeal and run off to the passenger side of the Vista Cruiser before he could catch her; they did have four kids waiting in the car for them.

******

Years passed, and it was now 1978. The gang of small children still hung out adding a new member, Fez. They still rode around in the Vista Cruiser. Eric was still a bit of a wimp, Donna was still a like one of the guys, Kelso was still dumb, and the Forman house was still their favorite hang out place, but not all the things stayed the same.

Hyde still wore aviator sunglasses and Jackie was still bossy, but there was a change. They went from not standing to be in the same car together to wanting to be the only ones in the vehicle.

It was Friday night and the gang of misfits was at a drive in movie, watching some film. Well, the gang minus Jackie and Hyde, who were embraced in a lip lock as they sat in the lawn chair they'd brought from the basement.

"Um, Hyde," Eric called as he tapped his friend's shoulder.

After minutes of poking, Hyde broke the kiss and turned to see Eric and Donna who were sitting on the hood of the Vista Cruiser.

"What?"

"Oh sorry, you had a Jackie on your face."

Hyde rolled his eyes as Jackie gave an annoyed look, and Donna, Kelso, and Fez laughed.

"Whatever." Hyde leaned back in for a kiss only to have Donna stop him.

"Hyde, you need to go get some popcorn," she informed him.

"No I don't."

"Yeah you do," Kelso said from his seat on the ground.

"Yes, we took a vote," Fez added from beside Kelso.

"Besides," Eric began, "we came in my car, Donna paid for the tickets, Kelso found the parking places, and Fez…well, we can't trust him to come back with more than half the bucket."

Fez sheepishly grinned.

"Fine," Hyde grumbled as he stood up and began to walk off.

"I'll come with you, baby," Jackie said as she followed close behind.

As the two walked off, Eric and Donna watched; Eric with a frown and Donna with a smile.

"Poor bastard," Eric commented earning him a slight smack form his girlfriend.

When Hyde and Jackie reached the concession stand, they were greeted with a not so long line, but long enough to keep them from going back to their make out session quicker than they'd hoped.

"Ugh, I can't believe our 'friends' sent us to get the popcorn," Jackie said crossing her arms. "Just because we were having a better time than they were. You should spit in their popcorn, Steven."

Hyde smirked. "I've taught you well, young grasshopper."

"Whatever," Jackie said in full Zen mode.

Deciding that their friends could wait a bit longer for their popcorn, Hyde pulled Jackie with him to the side of the stand-- the dark, secluded side. Jackie grinned, breaking her Zen, before Hyde kissed her lips.

Seconds into their kiss, Jackie felt someone grab her arm and pull her away from Hyde.

"Fez…" she started, thinking it was her foreign friend, but was very wrong.

The hand that held on tightly to Jackie's arm belonged to a man who neither of them knew, but they both knew he was not a friendly stranger… after all, why would a friendly stranger be holding a gun?

Hyde got ready to charge at the man but froze the second the stranger put the gun against Jackie's temple.

"Alright listen," the man said in a harsh tone of voice. "If you do what I tell you to do, there won't be any harm, got it?"

By now, Jackie was terrified and was on the verge of tears. Hyde clenched his fist, wanting to punch the man harder then he'd ever frogged Kelso. But he knew that would only do more harm then good.

"Wait a minute, man," Hyde began before digging into his pocket and pulled out various items. "Here, take my wallet and whatever's in it." He dropped the item on the floor. "Here's a watch I've had for years… it's gotta be a collectable or something." He took wristband off his wrist and dropped it next to the wallet.

The stranger never moved the gun away from Jackie, whose face was now tear-stained. It was killing Hyde. He slowly reached into his left front pocket.

"Here," Hyde said handing the man a ring of two keys. "The key to my car. Take 'em. Take everything…just don't take the girl."

The stranger looked at Hyde and the keys, then at the items on the floor, then at Jackie. Deciding that Hyde had made a good deal, he reached over and grabbed the keys before roughly pushing Jackie to the side. Luckily, Hyde moved fast enough to be there to catch her in his arms.

He held her close as she softly cried into his chest. Neither of them noticed the man grab the items off the floor and run off.

"Oh Steven, you saved me," Jackie cried into him.

"Anything for you, doll," he responded as he rubbed her back.

"But you gave away your El Camino for me," Jackie reminded as she slightly pulled away.

"Actually, those were the spare keys to the Vista Cruiser." Hyde smirked. "That'll teach those guys to not send us for popcorn."

Jackie softly laughed before resting her head back on Hyde's chest.

******

Five years later, Steven Hyde and his wife of two years were sitting the Forman basement. Hyde sat with his arm draped behind Jackie as she balanced a book of baby names on her pregnant belly.

"How about the name Daniel?" she asked hopefully.

"No."

"Why not? We could call him Danny." Jackie went on, not ready to give up. "It'll be cute."

"Danny's a sissy name. There's no way I'm naming my son _Danny_," came Hyde reply.

"Steven, Daniel is a very nice name…ooh, and it's an Elton John song!" she squealed.

Hyde rolled his eyes as his wife began to sing.

"_Ooh, Ooh, Daniel, my brother you are older then me. Do you still feel the pain of the scars that won't…_ow!"

Hyde grinned as he watched Jackie place her hands on her baby bump.

"Just another person who thinks you can't sing," he commented but Jackie just grinned.

"Steven, I just had a contraction."

"A what?" he asked, slightly losing his Zen.

"A contraction," Jackie said with her smile still in place.

"A contraction? That means..."

"The baby's coming."

"The baby's coming!" Hyde said, now alarmed as he jumped to his feet. "Okay, um… what do we do first?"

Jackie laughed as she noticed her husband's Zen was long forgotten.

"It's time to go now."

"Right." Hyde nodded. "Where?"

"To the hospital!" Jackie said, now getting slightly annoyed.

"Right…okay, um…" Hyde struggled as he tried to think of what to do next but the only thing that popped into his mind was…

"Mrs. Forman! Red!" he called upstairs. "Jackie's coming! We have to get the baby to the hospital!"

Less than an hour later, Jackie was screaming and pushing away in a delivery room as Hyde stood by her side holding her hand and wiping the sweat from her forehead.

"Okay Jackie, this is it," the doctor explained. "Just one more big push. Ready 1…2…3…push!"

Jackie's scream of pain was soon overpowered by the crying a newborn baby. The doctor looked up at the couple.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hyde, it's a boy!"

"A boy?" Hyde asked in amazement as his eyes followed his newborn son. Next to his wedding, this was the greatest day of his life. Until…

"Doctor, Mrs. Hyde's not responding." a nurse informed causing Hyde to turn around and see his now unconscious wife.

"Jackie?" he called softly. "Jacks?" Nothing. "Jackie!" he called louder, tuning out the voice of the doctor giving out orders and the crying sounds of his newborn son.

"Mr. Hyde, you need to step outside," a nurse instructed as she slowly tried to pull Hyde away from Jackie.

"No! I can't leave her. I won't leave her," he firmly said

"Mr. Hyde, please…"

"I said no!"

An hour or so later, after having to be physically dragged out by Red and Kelso, Hyde sat in the waiting room with his friends. To his left were Fez and Kelso who were fast asleep, leaning against the other with their mouths wide open. Eric and Donna sat playing some card game, while sitting on Hyde's left. And across from him sat Red, who was pretending to read the paper.

Kitty had gone to see if she could get any information on Jackie and had just returned. She slowly walked over to the group and touched her husband's arm, and then walked over to the corner of the room. Red soon followed her, knowing there was something she needed to tell him. Hyde watched the couple walk away but before he could try to figure out what they were saying Eric stared talking to him.

"Hyde, Donna and I are gonna go get some coffee. You want anything?" Eric asked placing his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Jackie," Hyde replied seriously.

Eric and Donna exchanged looks before slowly walking away, wishing there was something they could do. Hyde continued to sit with his arms crossed and his frown in place until he saw the Formans walk over to him. Kitty took the seat her son had occupied as Red stood behind her with his hand on her shoulder. This wasn't going to be good news, and Hyde knew it.

"Steven, honey," Kitty softly began as she grabbed her adoptive son's hand.

"How's Jackie?" Hyde asked sternly.

"Your baby boy is just fine. He's so cute, too. He's got…" Kitty began to ramble on.

"I asked about Jackie." Hyde reminded, sounding more upset than he wanted to. He felt a wave of guilt rush over him as he saw the hurt and frightened look on Kitty's face. He sighed. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Forman. I meant…what about Jackie?"

Kitty was now close to tears as she looked up at her husband, "Oh, Red."

Red sighed, the minute Kitty told him about Jackie's condition he knew he was going to be the one who would have to tell Hyde.

Red cleared his throat. "Son, things aren't looking good. She's lost a lot of blood…she's fading pretty fast. They're doing all they can, but they're not sure she'll make it through the night."

It was then that Hyde felt his whole world starting to crash.

"No. No, this can't happen." Hyde argued as he stood up with his voice becoming louder with each word. "She has to be okay! She needs to be here to sign the damn birth certificate! She needs to be here for her son…for me! Go make sure those doctors know that!"

"Steven…" Red calmly called.

"No Red, I…she…" Hyde sighed. "She didn't even get to hold him."

Kitty's heart broke for the poor boy and she quickly thought of something she could do for him.

"Steven," she said softly as she walked over to Hyde and grabbed his arm. "Why don't you come with me? We'll go somewhere quieter, where there's not so much talking."

Hyde stared at his surrogate mother. It sounded like a good idea, but what if there was news on Jackie?

"I'm sure Red will come get us if there's any news on Jackie, won't you Red?" Kitty asked. How she knew, Hyde would never know.

"Sure." Red nodded.

"Alright," Hyde quietly said before letting Kitty lead him out of noisy waiting room.

Kitty opened the door to the small chapel. Hyde looked around at the candles, the pictures, and statues, and then he looked back at Mrs. Forman.

"Now I know you're not the religious type Steven, but this chapel's a really peaceful place. People sometimes come in just to get away from all the drama," Kitty whispered even though no one besides she and Hyde were in the room.

Not having enough strength to argue with her, Hyde followed Kitty into a pew and took a seat.

"I remember when Red had his heart attack; I must have made a hundred trips here," Kitty shared, "And some days when things get to hectic around the hospital, I like to come take a little break in here. Things just seem to always be better after spending sometime in here."

Kitty patted Hyde's hand as he remained silent. Just then, she saw a glimpse of one of her nurse friends by the door.

"You know, Steven, God listens to everyone. Even those who rarely talk to him. Now, I'll be right back," she said before bending down and kissing the top of his head, then leaving the room.

Hyde sat quietly in the quiet room. When he was in the waiting room he would have been thankful to be in here but now he would be thankful if he were in the noisy waiting room. Finally he couldn't take it any longer.

"Damn it!" he shouted as he banged his hand on the back of the pew in front of him. "Yeah, I know, I cursed in a church but that's the least of my concerns," he said while looking at the wooden cross that was hung in the front of the room.

"I'm too busy worrying about my wife, Jackie, who's in there fighting for her life so she can see our little boy grow up." He paused, feeling tears burning his eyes. "You can't take her…you…take me instead. Take my heart, take my breath…take me out of this damn world. I just, I…I'll take her place if you want. But God, don't take the girl."

Before he could stop himself, he started crying as he slumped to his side so he was lying in the pew. And two hours later that was where Red found him, when he came to give him the final update on Jackie.

******

It was the summer of 1991. Daniel Reginald Hyde was sitting with his friends in the driveway of his grandparents house. It was time for the annual fishing trip over at the lake and everyone was excited. Especially since they were taking Uncle Eric's old Vista Cruiser; that car was more fun than Grandpa Red's Corvette. All the kids were going, along with the adults, so it was going to be a full car.

"Okay, everyone's here. Let's go," Red said as he and Kitty, who was holding an ice chest, walked out to the driveway.

He didn't have to say that twice. As soon as the words came out of his mouth, everyone went into the car… well, everyone but Danny and his father.

"So you ready to catch a big fish?" Hyde asked as he knelt down and fixed his son's fishing hat.

Danny nodded. "I'm gonna catch a fish that's this big." He then stretched out his arms as fast as he could.

Hyde smirked. "Cool. You sure you got everything?"

"Oh wait," Danny said before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pair of sunglasses. He placed them on his face. "Now I've got everything."

"Hey, what about us?"

Hyde stood himself up at the sound of the voice. He couldn't help but smile as his eyes fell upon his wife as she walked over to them, each hand holding the hand of one of their twins.

"Sorry Mommy, Daddy's in charge of you," Danny said, causing his mother to giggle.

"Here honey, take Renee and Jake with you to the car."

Danny did as he was told leaving his parents alone in the driveway.

"So you're in charge of me, huh?"

"Yup," Hyde answered as he wrapped his arms around Jackie's waist. "Now, kiss me."

"If you say so," Jackie's replied while smiling slyly.

The two embraced in a lip lock that could have lead to something much more if someone hadn't honked the horn on the Vista Cruiser.

"Break it up, you two!" Red shouted from the drivers' seat. "It's already like a damn clown car in here! Nine grandkids is enough!"

"Oh no!" Kitty quickly jumped in. "Don't listen to him. You two decide when enough is enough."

Jackie and Hyde looked at each other, each smiling some.

"But not now!" Red called over. Just then a piece of candy hit the back of his head; he frowned and turned around to the tightly packed group and saw Kelso and Fez pointing at the other, each looking very guilty. Red sighed. "Steven, grab your wife and get both of your asses in the car _now_."

Hyde smirked. "If you insist."

He then grabbed his wife in his arms and tossed half of her over his shoulder. She laughed as he carried her to the vehicle… after all, he couldn't forget to take the girl.

**The End**

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__So what's you think? Yay or Nay? Please lemme know what you think! Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review, take care and have a nice day!_


End file.
